


Schlagende Wetter

by Dan_Francisco



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Claustrophobia, Gen, Light Swearing, promptfill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 19:49:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18698026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dan_Francisco/pseuds/Dan_Francisco
Summary: In the outskirts of Kaiserstadt, Selena Hoang, star journalist with Kaiserstadt Morgenpost, investigates a lead she got from an anonymous caller.





	Schlagende Wetter

**Author's Note:**

> Promptfill for the r/fanfiction Prompt Challenge for May. I picked Sightless and a random trope, which was Buried Alive.

Sometimes, Selena really, _really_ hated her job.

 

Days like today, investigating old mine shafts just beyond Kaiserstadt's city limits, made her question why she stayed at Kaiserstadt Morgenpost. The entire lead just seemed pointless to begin with, but she had to do _something_ to get her career back on track. Ever since exposing the crimes of Kaiserstadt Polizei, she had never been able to get another big hit, another feather in her journalistic cap.

 

Today was supposed to change that, but she didn't much see what was worth investigating here. Selena looked at her notes – a mysterious caller had gotten her office number, giving her a lead to this place. Supposedly, some kind of criminal organization – maybe Team Rocket – was using it to plan their next big heist, or something similar.

 

So why the hell do it at an old mine?

 

This place had undoubtedly seen better days. The old wooden buildings that used to host workers and the office staff were stained with years of sun and rain, visibly rotting out. A small building with a tall facade advertised the local bar. A dusty, forgotten road led to a burnt-out church, probably a victim of war, with the steeple extending to the sky like a single skeletal finger. There was a larger two story building, with an entire section caved in that probably served as a hotel.

 

And then stood the entrance to the mine itself. It was either coal, iron, or something similar – Selena had checked the property records and promptly forgotten the mine's purpose. She sighed, looking over the dusty, empty ghost town. She could hear something nearby – a Pokemon of some kind. Time to protect herself – she let Gardevoir out, smirking as she instantly reacted to the sand-filled air.

 

“Just a little dust, Gardevoir,” Selena reminded her. “Nothing to worry about.”

Gardevoir nodded, but still looked unsettled. Was it the Pokemon around? Likely would be ghost types like Haunter or Ghastly, but that wasn't much for her to be concerned about. Selena knew she could handle them without an issue. Something else was up. _No matter,_ Selena thought. She could figure it out later. All Selena really cared about now was checking out this mine, and figuring out if this lead was real, or just a waste of time. So far, she was leaning more towards the latter.

 

The entrance was about as run-down and rotted away as the town itself, offering little more than danger, tetanus, and enough nightmare fuel to sustain the dark corners of her mind for weeks. Time to head down. Selena carefully stepped down into the abandoned mine, using her phone to illuminate the dark corners that enveloped her almost the minute she stepped inside. Gardevoir followed, but hesitantly. Maybe she should just return her to the Pokeball, or maybe not. Whatever.

 

As she ventured further down, finding a whole lot of nothing, the carefully constructed walls of timber turning away to jagged, hastily-carved out rock, only supported from collapse by pieces of wood that were worn black from years of exposure to the world and the damp. Gardevoir was right behind her, quietly whimpering. God, whatever was setting Gardevoir off was getting to Selena now. The air was getting thick, heavy with the smell of rock dust and oppression. The cave walls grew ever narrower, threatening to squeeze her if she wasn't careful.

 

Deeper and deeper down Selena went, the smell of water latching itself to every board, rock and surface only growing and mixing with the dust. Before she knew it, she had gone so deep down, her phone no longer received a signal. Like Selena had predicted, there was nothing here. Just a waste of her time and phone battery. She sighed, turning around to head back up.

“Time to go, Gardervoir,” she muttered, her voice bouncing across the empty mine shaft.

 

Before she could step to make her return, something began rumbling. It emanated from deep within the mine, or so she thought, but the echoing walls made it almost impossible to discern which direction it was really coming from. No time to waste – Selena had to move. Gardevoir had already started running, far ahead of her as the rumbling grew in intensity. Before Selena could even cry out, the rumbling devolved into a roar, and in an instant, everything went black.

 

* * *

 

 

Something hurt. Selena tried to move, reach her phone, but her arms were stuck, useless. Something was on her chest, making her breaths necessarily short and hesitant. Her legs were equally stuck in place. Slowly, the terrible reality dawned on her. She was trapped. She yelled, tried to make herself known, but instead of the echoing she had gotten earlier, her voice was loud in her own ears, flat and contained. _Okay, don't panic,_ she thought, trying to wriggle her way free, but finding no success. _Okay, maybe panic a little._

 

Where was her phone? She couldn't see it, or much of anything other than pitch black darkness. If there was something in front of her, she couldn't tell. Water dripped on one of her arms. Slowly, she became aware of her mouth, feeling as if it were made of cotton. The cold, damp rocks were positively chilling, even though the layers she had worn today. Really, the only source of warmth was the hot blood that was rolling down her leg, from an unknown wound. She couldn't tell where it started, really – the pain in her leg was clouding her thoughts, making it hard to focus.

 

How long had she even been here? Her skin felt dirty, grimy with the dust that had covered the walls and floated into her nose. Did she hear something, or was that just her mind playing tricks on her? It sounded almost like Gardevoir calling out for her, hoping for the echoes to come back. Maybe she was delusional. _I'm going to die here, aren't I?_

 

The fact that everything was locked firmly in place by the rocks around her didn't much help. If only she could move _something,_ keep her from going insane, that would be so much more helpful. Everything hurt, and she couldn't even take deep breaths in to relax. The musty, stale air began to intrude her nostrils, further making a hellish situation even worse. This was never how she wanted to go, stuck in an abandoned mine somewhere, forgotten about. Had she even told anyone where she was going? She couldn't remember. How long would they wait until opening a missing person report?

 

Would they even find her down here? Selena felt tears rolling down her face, unable to do anything to dry her eyes. Each sob, whimper of breath, became painful as the rock on her chest dug into her. She just wanted to be in and out of this place quickly, why did she have to get stuck here? Selena closed her eyes, slowly accepting her fate even as the water continued to drop on her arm, continually reminding her where she was, and how hopeless her situation had truly become.

 

* * *

 

 

She must have fallen asleep. Selena woke up with a start, but since she was still trapped, she couldn't really jolt anywhere. The blackness began to fade, slowly replaced by streaks of light. Before she knew it, the blinding light came in full to her eyes, temporarily blinding her. Someone was here – she could hear Gardevoir panicking, shouting at whoever was helping. She heard a Bronzong chime, moving the rocks off of her as the light flooded her eyes.

 

 _Wait. A Bronzong?_ Those…those didn't often come here, unless…

 

“Come on,” an all-too-familiar voice said, grabbing her hand. “Let's get out of here.”

 _Mackenzie._ That stupid detective, the same one who had declared Selena ruined her life. Why did she always have to show up when Selena was at her worst?

“I can't see,” she admitted. “Think my leg's broken, too.”

Mackenzie hummed, no doubt looking her over before electing to just sweep Selena off her feet, carrying her out of the mine. Even if she couldn't see, Selena would have slammed her eyes shut in frustration, fluster, and embarrassment immediately.

“If you're smirking -” Selena warned, putting a hand over her face to hide her shame.

“Please. You're like a bag of bricks dressed up in clothes from the Eisenplaza. If I had a Pokemon with real arms, I'd have them carry you out.”

 

The musty air was replaced by cool winds, and the smell of freshness. They must have made it outside the mine. Sirens filled her ears as she continued to be carried out, her arms and legs heavy from pure exhaustion.

“This doesn't make us friends, you know,” Selena reminded Mackenzie.

“Didn't think it would. You look cute being carried by a strong woman, you know that?”

She sighed again, feeling herself being transferred into a stretcher. Gardevoir was right by her side, placing her hands all over Selena to make sure she was alright, which she was aside from the minor issue of still being blinded by the light. Slowly, the harsh light began to fade, and she could start seeing colors again. They were washed out, but she could make out the shapes of the paramedics examining her. Mackenzie was next to her, her arms folded and smirking, just like she had warned against.

 

“I hate you,” Selena said, glaring at her.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Why were you even here?”

Mackenzie shrugged, her black hair now coming into full view. “I could ask you the same thing. Heard something about some suspicious people here, saw your Gardevoir panicking out here. I thought you had an Alakazam?”

“Sent him to my brother, he always liked him better anyway.”

“Eh, Gardevoir's more your style anyway,” Mackenzie said, shrugging. “So, is getting stuck in old mines a weekend thing for you, or was this a special occasion?”

 

Selena smirked, shaking her head. “I won't tell you anything.”

“Yeah, as much as it irritates the hell out of me, I know. Listen, I have to investigate this anyway,” Mackenzie said, taking a small notebook out of her jacket. “May as well make it easy, yanno?”

“Got a lead, came to check it out,” Selena replied.

Mackenzie nodded, jotting down the note. “Guess that's all I'm getting out of you, isn't it?”

 

Selena nodded. Knowing that her opponent had won, Macken zie shook her head, putting away the notebook and shoving her hands in her pockets.

“Well, unless you burned it again, you have my card. Give me a call if you think anyone got you in here to kill you or something.”

“Sure,” she said as the medics began pushing her into the back of the ambulance.

“You really drive me up the wall, you know that?”

Selena smirked again, happy to just get away from her as the ambulance doors closed, and she – along with Gardevoir, of course – were taken to the local hospital for further treatment and care.

 

She certainly wouldn't be going to any abandoned mines for stories anytime soon.


End file.
